Resources for Voters

EAC maintains the National Mail Voter Registration Form, which voters can use to register to vote and update their registration information. The form is available in seven languages.

EAC also provides voter guides in 11 languages and a variety of links to helpful resources for voters relating to registration, military and overseas voting, accessibility, and volunteering as a poll worker.

Voting System Testing and Certification

HAVA mandates that EAC accredit voting system test laboratories and certify voting equipment, marking the first time the federal government has offered these services to the states.

EAC is committed to running the program in a transparent manner, releasing voting system test plans and reports for the public to review and posting detailed information about the voluntary voting system guidelines, program policies, and related correspondence.

Election Management Resources

One of EAC's top priorities is providing assistance to election officials. We do this by issuing guidance, advisories and best practices to help officials comply with the Help America Vote Act and make other election administration improvements and enhancements.

Payments and Grants

EAC administers federal funding to improve the administration of U.S. elections as authorized by the Help America Vote Act. The commission also manages discretionary, competitive grant programs authorized by HAVA, including the HAVA College Program to recruit college students to serve as poll workers and the HAVA Mock Election Program, which supports activities to educate secondary students in the electoral process.

Research

EAC is responsible under the Help America Vote Act for collecting information about election administration issues and sharing that information with Congress, election officials and the public.

This section contains completed research and reports commissioned by EAC, information about EAC research in progress, and additional elections research issued by other organizations. Datasets are also available to download.

National Voter Registration Act

Voters can use the National Mail Voter Registration Form to register to vote, update registration information due to a change of name, make a change of address, or register with a political party.

The National Form also contains voter registration rules and regulations for each state and territory. For more information about registering to vote, contact your state election office. Read our Frequently Asked Questions for more information about the national form.

Elections Security: Learn it. Live it. Love it.

We spent a lot of time talking about authentication mechanisms used in the field of information security. For elections, authentication may be used for staff access to buildings and warehouses as well as computer systems. Authentication examples include handwritten signatures, employee access cards, fingerprints, DNA and digital signatures. Although this is not an exhaustive list, we recommend the following when establishing passwords:

Do not use default passwords!

Use different passwords for different accounts.

Use different passwords for different people.

Use different passwords for different elections.

No names or dictionary words. Example: JoshElection4.

Randomness is key.

At least 8 characters.

For more information, read EAC’s Election Management Guidelines chapters about system security, physical security, chain of custody procedures, acceptance testing and technology in elections. Also check out the security requirements in the next iteration of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines. It’s a draft, but you’ll find lots of information about voting system security.

The purpose of this blog is to share useful, innovative and practical information about voting and elections with interested parties. EAC also intends to provide this forum to host conversations with the public. EAC encourages the submission of comments from the public and hopes that interested individuals will provide submissions on a regular basis. EAC also recognizes the value of providing this forum to facilitate discussions concerning best practices, solutions, and innovative ideas in election administration.

This is a moderated blog, and EAC will exercise discretion in determining which comments it will and will not post. As a moderated blog, EAC will review all comments before posting to ensure that commenters have complied with EAC’s Blog Code of Conduct. EAC’s decision to post or not post a comment is final and may not be appealed or reconsidered.

EAC expects that participants will treat each other, as well as our agency and our employees with respect. EAC recognizes that the Internet is a 24/7 medium and comments are welcome at any time; however, we will typically review and post comments only during normal business hours.

You may only submit a comment for posting on EAC’s blog if you are older than 13 years of age. You will be asked to re-type a grouping of letters and/or numbers, which indicates that you agree to EAC’s Code of Conduct and also serves as an affirmation that you are older than 13 years of age. Your comment will not be transmitted to EAC for review and posting unless and until you successfully re-type the grouping of letters and/or numbers provided on your comment submission form. Read the full policy.

We look forward to reviewing your comments!

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